Silane solution stability and film morphology of water-based bis-1,2-(triethoxysilyl)ethane for thin-film deposition on aluminium

Thin-film silane coating (<1 μm) has been introduced as a chromium free multi-metal surface pre-treatment for corrosion protection, adhesion promotion and surface passivation of metals such as aluminium, steel, zinc, magnesium and others. Bis-1,2-(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTSE) has received much attention as it is, after hydrolysis, highly reactive towards (covalent) metal/film bonding and cross-link formation for the creation of barrier properties. Much of the past work on BTSE was performed on methanol-based laboratory solutions due to the low solubility of BTSE in water. For industrial applications these solutions are not considered suitable anymore because of the high process cost as well as ecological and health issues associated with methanol and the high monomer content of such solutions. For industrial practice water-based silane solutions are being considered. In the present work water-based BTSE solution is compared to a reference methanol-based solution. The silane solution is analysed using 29Si NMR spectroscopy, and the deposited silane films are morphologically characterised using infra-red spectroscopic ellipsometry and field-emission gun-scanning electron microscopy.